Migrants
The Meloni government has created a new type of crime for "death or serious injury as a result of trafficking in illegal immigrants". This is the most important and discussed provision of the new decree law on immigration, approved during the Council of Ministers of 9 March 2023 in Cutro, in Calabria, where the shipwreck took place which cost the lives of 72 people and whose causes are 2 investigations have been opened.Meloni's hunt for smugglers on the "terrestrial globe" and yet another useless migrant decree A tragic story, that of the shipwreck of Cutro, ends in the worst possible way: with a staging without the courage of responsibility and a punitive measure that does not strengthen the coordination of relief efforts
The new crime
The first and most important measure, as already underlined, concerns "the harsher penalties for crimes connected to clandestine immigration" . With this provision, the executive has not only increased the sanctions, but has introduced ex novo ** the crime of "** death or injury as a result of crimes relating to illegal immigration" to which sentences of between 10 and 30 years are associated prison.As many observers have underlined, the provision makes no difference between traffickers and smugglers, with the risk of bringing innocent people to prison. In fact, while the traffickers are part of the criminal organizations that organize the trips, the smugglers are usually people outside the organization, used to drive boats or in exchange for transport or forced by the traffickers, who have no intention of possibly embarking on a journey mortal.
But the Italian law indicates as a "smuggler" anyone who pilots the vessel even for a short distance, thus including anyone who places their hands on the rudders. As reported on Instagram by Valerio Nicolosi, an independent migration expert journalist, the 350 smugglers were arrested last year, most of whom are migrants who paid to arrive in Europe, but were arrested because they were at the helm of the boat.
The expulsions The decree law also provides for the simplification of the expulsion procedures for irregular migrants, eliminating the need to request validation by the justice of the peace to execute the expulsion decrees.In addition, the government would like to equip all regions with at least one Detention center for repatriation (Cpr).
The restriction of special protection
The government then decided to restrict the application of this measure introduced in 2018, which replaced the permits for humanitarian reasons, with the final aim of abolishing it and replacing it with another one.
The other regulations
The decree law then reintroduces the so-called flow decrees, i.e. quotas maxims of “foreigners to be admitted to Italy for subordinate work” . These will be defined on a three-year basis and no longer annually and will be reserved "preferentially" for those "states that promote media campaigns for their citizens on the risks to personal safety deriving from their inclusion in irregular migratory traffic".
Finally, preferential access measures have been included for people of foreign origin who have attended training courses recognized by the Italian government and a three-year renewal, instead of the current two, for people of foreign origin with employment contracts open-ended, for self-employment or family recognition.
The restriction of special protection
The government then decided to restrict the application of this measure introduced in 2018, which replaced the permits for humanitarian reasons, with the final aim of abolishing it and replacing it with another one.The other regulations
The decree law then reintroduces the so-called flow decrees, i.e. quotas maxims of “foreigners to be admitted to Italy for subordinate work” . These will be defined on a three-year basis and no longer annually and will be reserved "preferentially" for those "states that promote media campaigns for their citizens on the risks to personal safety deriving from their inclusion in irregular migratory traffic".Finally, preferential access measures have been included for people of foreign origin who have attended training courses recognized by the Italian government and a three-year renewal, instead of the current two, for people of foreign origin with employment contracts open-ended, for self-employment or family recognition.